The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1887-01-01
USEFUL INFORMATION.

A Lantern in a Barn.-The American Farmer
barn. # the dairy Work Be- attended to early aha
late, but with so much combustible material all
around, do not trust to hanging it in any hap
hazard place. Select points from which the light
will shine to the best advantage on what is to be
done, then drive into the beams or studding, not
common nails but hooks turned up at least two
inches, that it may not be osted from its place
by being struck with the head in moving about,
or by any other object. Over the hook nail
piece of tin or zinc, and there will be compare
tive safety"
Laundry Hints.-A spoonful of oxgall to gal
Ion of water will set the coors of almost any goods
soaked in it previous to washing. teacup of
I've in o pail of water will improve the color of
black goods. Napkins should lie in lye before
being washed; it sets the color. A strong tea of
common hay will preserve the color of French
linen. Vinegar in the rinsing water for the pink
or green calicoes will brighten them soda an.
swers the same end for both purple and blue. To
bleach cotton CLOTH take one large spoonful of sal
soda and one pound of chloride of lime for thirty
yards; dissolve in clean soft water; rinse the
cloth thoroughly in cold soft water that it may
not rot. This amount of cloth may be bleached
in fourteen or fifteen minutes.
The Management of Lamps.--Some one has
written some directions for treating lamps, and it
30 accords with the experience OF another that we
present them herewith. To insure good light,
the burners of petroleum lamps should be kept
bright. If they are allowed to become dull, the
light is uncertain, and, owing to the absorption Of
heat by the darkened metal, smoke is the result
Once a month place the burners in pan, cover
ing them with cold water, to each quart of which
q tablespoonful of washing soda should be added,
and also little soap. Boil slowly for one or two
hours, and at the end Of this time pour off the
blackened water. Then pour enough boiling
water into the pan to cover the burners, adding
soap and soda in the same proportions as before
After boiling again few minutes, pour off the
water, rinse the burners with clear hot water and
rub dry with soft cloth. The burners must be
perfectly dry before the wicks are introduced.
Should the wicks become clogged with the par
ticles of dust floating in the OIL and new ones not
be desired, they may be boiled in vinegar and
water, dried thoroughly, and put back in the
burners. If wicks have done duty all winter, they
should be replaced by new ones in the spring.
Nickel burners may be boiled as well as brass
ones. Time spent in the care of lamps is never
wasted. A perfectly clean lamp, that gives
brilliant light, is great comfort. What more
cherries depressing than illkept lamp,
which gives forth an unsteady, lurid, sight-de-
stroying famea The paper roses, guilder roses,
and chrysanthemums, SO popular for decorative
purposes, are admirable for placing in the lamp
chimneys to keep out the dust during the day,
and the wicks should be turned little below the
rim Of the burner, to prevent emulation of the oil.